I don’t know if this is technically an eephus pitch. Someone will likely chime in and say that, actually, an eephus pitch is not just some slow junk pitch designed to throw the hitter off guard but really has to arc way up high like 30 feet and come back down to truly be called that.

Maybe that’s the case, but it’s also the case that “literally” doesn’t mean “figuratively” and “non-plussed” is supposed to mean “surprised and confused,” not “unimpressed,” but usage by people who don’t know what they’re talking about has quite literally changed their definition according to the folks who write dictionaries.

As person who thinks words actually mean things, these developments have me non-plussed. Almost as non-plussed as Torii Hunter looked after getting the first of two eephus pitches from Alfredo Simon last night:

[mlbvideo id=”112486083″ width=”600″ height=”336″ /]

Ultimately, I have learned to give in to the mob with these sorts of things. I doubt I’ll ever intentionally and seriously use “literally” to mean “figuratively,” but I may slip on “non-plussed” at some point. And I’m willing to call any non-knuckleball that doesn’t exceed 65 miles per hour an eephus pitch. Life is too short to fight over crap like that.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.

An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)